First Trailer for Uwe Boll's Film About the Genocide in Darfur

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Dr. Uwe Boll, the notorious filmmaker behind the likes of House of the Dead, Bloodrayne, In the Name of the King: a Dungeon Siege Tale, Alone in the Dark, and Postal, has made a film - a serious one - about the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. I imagine you're as surprised as everyone else.

I first heard about the film, titled simply Darfur, about a month ago at the Fantastic Fest Q&A for Boll's man-on-a-killing-spree movie Rampage. The director casually referred to the film as if it was no big deal, though it was obvious that everyone in the room was as stunned as I. When pressed for more information, Boll explained that he felt the world was turning a blind eye to the crimes against humanity that are committed daily in Darfur, and that as an artist, the only way he felt he could make a difference was if he made a film about it.

Now it would be easy to not take the film seriously given who is involved, but I can attest that there was genuine frustration in Boll's voice when he talked about tackling the material. However, the credibility he earned by showing a more noble side than one normally sees in his filmography quickly took a nose dive as Boll explained he used actual Darfur refugees in making the film. That sounds no alarms at first, but he further explained that he had actual rape victims in his cast, victims who were asked to re-enact their rape on camera; because that kind of 'honesty' was the only way he could capture how dire the situation is.

Yes, you read that correctly (there seems to be a lot of that phrase when talking about Uwe Boll): the rape victims in Darfur are actual rape victims. Now it's not like Boll forced anyone to do anything they didn't want to, but that's certainly an audacious tactic, to say the least. Who knows if it will actually help him capture the 'honesty' of the Genocide, because if the trailer Twitch found is any indication, he's going to need all the help he can get. It looks like an atypically serious movie for the good doctor, but that doesn't mean it looks like a good movie.

I present to you the trailer for Darfur, Uwe Boll's film about the genocide in Sudan starring Edward Furlong, Kristanna Loken, Matt Frewer, and Billy Zane. Yes, you read all of that correctly.